Forum member credibility

Forum member credibility is a measure of how much trust and weight can be given to chat forum posts made by any particular member of that forum. It generally works that the longer a person has been a member of the forum, and the more posts they have contributed, the greater their credibility.

The graph below, as created by Timmeh, demonstrates this principle:

So, for example, if a newcomer joins the forum and then posts a review of this "great new shop that has just opened on such-and-such-a-strasse" then that post will be low on credibility. In fact, the suspicion amongst other members will be that this new member is indeed the owner of that shop and they are simply trying to get some cheap promo.

If, on the other hand, a long-time member of the forum with over 1,000 previous posts to their credit were to make a similar "great new shop just opened" posting, then they would tend to be believed as being impartial.

Likewise, if a newcomer joins and starts insulting someone on the forum, then that newcomer will likely be dismissed. If an old-timer starts insulting someone, then those insults will carry considerably more weight. Of course, insults should never actually be made on the forum anyway. See no personal attacks.

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